Think about a 12 year old, on an unknown journey in quest for his mother and family. That may sound fair but what makes it worrying is when the child has no idea how the journey is going to be yet with no help from anybody and with no penny to facilitate the journey.

Imagine the child wandering for over 500 kilometers from one part of the country to the other in a direction he has no idea of.

This is the experience of a typical Ugandan boy who decides to run from his father and step mother in quest for his mother. The following defines why the mother was away from the father, why the boy was in the care of the father and why did he decide to run away from the father.

We further reveal what the boy did go through during his movement, his fateful stay at Bweya Children’s Home and his reunion with the mother including how they are progressing as of to date.

Brian while four years left his mother’s care after being taken by the father following wrangles that existed between the two parents. Upon leaving Kasese where they lived, Mathew (Brian’s father) proceeded to Kamuli district with his children including Brian.

Brian whose interest has always been to have a glance at the mother became worthy investing in when he took a bet with the sister on who would get to the mother first which he managed to attain. The mother however, soon told Brian how incapable she was to take care of him including putting him in school hence having to go back to the father in Nawansaso, Kamuli District.

This was a decision taken not because of want but as a result of the prevailing situations. He was however happy upon seeing the mother and ready to settle and proceed with education. Back to Kamuli where they lived, Brian had unanswered questions which eventually brought dis-eases to his life for example why leave his mother in the first place, why not live with the father but be taken to live with the grandmother and why not let him settle there but bring him back to the step mother who was not welcoming.

All these questions were worsened by the insults from the stepmother and the unforgiving character of the father who he had previously apologized to and instead of responding just walked away. Being called an evil spirit and a source of poverty to the family among other statements while denying him the opportunity to education by the father kept roaming in Brian’s mind.

All questions deserve answers and this question of WHY ME was soon having redress for Brian had felt he should not stay with the father but find some other place to stay. The only place was being reunited with the mother who still lived in Kasese district.

Brian determined to meet and live with his mother set off for the journey willing to walk for over 560 kilometers till when he gets to the mother regardless of the challenges he was to face along the way. Knowing that he took a French leave, Brian decided not to take the way in which he could be followed and brought back to the father, instead took another route hoping he would connect back but walked in a totally opposite direction for over 140 kilometers heading to Busia where he lived for some time trying to find a way to Kasese.

While on the way Brian states he only walked in despair of seeing the mother but not knowing where he was heading nor when the journey was ending. He further narrates being thankful for God’ protection for not being hurt during these blur movements.

He occasionally jumped on cargo trucks which helped to reduce his journey and at times the truck drivers gave him a snack and he did not starve though he frequently had nothing to eat and it always got bitter when it came to night hours since he had nowhere to stay.

For a number of days Brian lived this kind of life and eventually found himself on the streets of Kampala (Uganda’s capital city) where he lived for a couple of days facing the brutality of fellow street children, continuously running from the police until he was picked by the director of Ascend Youth Development Foundation during the campaign that was aimed at taking street children back to their homes after walking for about 335 kilometers out of the over 700 kilometers he was ready to walk and handed him over to Children Safe Uganda for the necessary actions such as rehabilitating and eventual reintegration.

Following the psycho-social support offered to him, Brian was able to go back to school where he had so much interest and also given a reason for living though till then the urge of being reunited with the mother was not fulfilled.

Brian’s parents were called at the Children Safe Uganda’s premises to forge a way of possible resettlement but the dialogue turned into a battle field of words with each parent blaming and accusing the other for all the unfound mysteries in their relationship and as such the engagement yielded no fruits.

His mother with whom Brian wanted to be reunited was kept in close contact through her brother (Patrick) who played a vital mediation role and eventually with love, Medius accepted to have her son back pledging to parent him well. However, this could only happen once empowered for self-sustainability so as to be able to meet the basic needs of the family for a better living of Brian and his siblings.

When Medius (Brain’s mother) finally agreed to be with her son, Children Safe Uganda arranged for Brian’s reunion with the mother which was a reality on 20th December 2017 when Children Safe Uganda moved Brian to Kasese and saw what a joy it was to reunite as a family and pledged to be good to each other.

We have often talked to them and they are living happily by God’s grace.

Nabbaale Integrated Community Development Project (NICODEP)

ABOUT US

Children Safe Uganda (CSU), formerly Bweya Children’s Home International, Reg.No. S.5914 / 8137, is a child and Community development organization, birthed by Mission for Evangelism and Social Work. CSU was founded in 1968 by Irene and Christopher Mukasa.